pool

Text: Day one...

from Kim Wilkins, 17.08.09

The thing that has struck me most today on our first leg of the journey, is the smell of the steam train. Or should I say smells? Because there are layers of smell and I've been trying all day to think of ways to describe them. There's the coal smell, which you'd expect. But there's also a layer underneath that's slightly sulphurous, and at hint of the smell of old wood, and an edge of that country smell—you know, grass and dust. The other thing that has struck me is how beautifully invested people are in the train. At every town we've passed through there have been people watching and waving, and on the platform at Toowoomba there was a huge crowd waving flags and cheering (not for us, of course, but for the train). It's lovely to see history so valued by community. Note to self for tomorrow: have a clear idea what activities I want to do on the train so I don't (a) carry so much into the carriage and (b) dither for hours about where to focus my energy. The journeys are too long to simply wait for them to be over.

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